1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to feeder belts and, more particularly, to feeder belts used in the handling and transport of minerals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, feeder belts used in the mineral processing industry have been made of natural rubber with a cotton cord reinforcement. Over the past several years, it has been increasingly difficult to obtain an adequate supply of quality natural rubber belts. It is the understanding of the mineral processing industry that the costs of raw materials and the cost of fabricating the natural rubber feeder belts have caused certain manufacturers to cease production of the natural rubber belts. While certain natural rubber belts are still available, it has been found that these do not perform satisfactorily in that they fail prematurely. This limited operating life necessitates frequent belt changes which require frequent equipment shutdowns. Limited belt life not only causes the industry to incur higher costs from belt replacement but also from interruptions in production.
Synthetic rubbers (such as ADIPRENE urethane rubber) have been suggested for use as a material handling conveyor belt. However, it does not appear that such synthetics have found widespread use in the mineral processing industry.
It has now been found that if synthetic belts are reinforced with a free floating, encapsulated scrim, the belts are accepted as material handling conveyor belts. Accordingly, the objects of the present invention include a feeder belt that is competitive in initial cost with existing natural rubber feeder belts and a feeder belt that will have an extended operation life.